Brush sensing mechanism



Oct. 31, 1967 J. T. GELARDI BRUSH SENSING MECHANISM 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 28, 1965 FIQZ INVENTOR. JOSEPH 7- 6514420! BY r 5 W A TTOPA/EKST.

Oct. 31, 1967- J. T. GELARDI 3,349,659

BRUSH SENS ING- MECHANI SM Filed Oct. 28, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2' 45 K TIME DELAY INVENTOR. JQFEPH 7 GELARDI ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent 3,349,659 BRUSH SENSING MECHANISM Joseph T. Gelardi, Yonkers, N.Y., assignor to American Technical Machinery Corporation, Mount Vernon, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Oct. 28, 1965, Ser. No. 505,508 4 Claims. (Cl. 83-371) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE In a brush-making machine, wherein a brush-forming element is produced comprising a pair of twisted wires having clusters of bristles therebetween at spaced intervals along the wires, means are provided for severing the element comprising a brusher chopper located downstream of the moving brush element, the chopper being electrically actuated via a brush-sensing mechanism located adjacent the path of travel of said brush element.

This invention relates to a brush sensing mechanism for use with a brush making machine and, in particular, to a sensing mechanism for operating a chopper or brush severing device in timed sequence with the rate of production of twisted wire brushes.

Twisted wire brushes are produced by depositing bristles between a pair of wires and the bristles locked in place by imparting a twist to the wires. In US. Patent No. 3,160,440 granted to me on Dec. 8, 1964, I disclose a continuously operable brush making machine in which bristles are continuously fed at a feeding station between a pair of wires, which wires are continuously twisted to form substantially unlimited length of twisted wire brushes.

In producing twisted wire brushes in accordance with the foregoing patent, it may be desirable to space the bristles along the wires corresponding to a given brush size, with segments of bare wires between each brush size and then sever the product at some point along the bare wire to produce a particular size brush. As the twisted wire product is continuously moving in the production line, it is important that the chopper or severing device be actuated in timed sequence with the rate of production so that the correct length of brush is severed.

It is an object of my invention to provide a brush sensing device for sensing the position of a brush element in a production line so that subsequent manufacturing operations, such as the operation of severing the product, can be carried out in timed sequence with the rate of production of the twisted wire product.

Another object is to provide a brush sensing device for use with a continuous brush making machine.

These and other objects will more clearly appear when taken in conjunction with the following disclosure and the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIGS. 1 and 2 are illustrative of several embodiments of the brush sensing mechanism provided by the invention;

FIG. 3 depicts the use of one embodiment of the brush sensing mechanism in the brush-making production line;

FIG. 4 shows how the sensing mechanism operates in conjunction with the movement of the twisted wire prodnet in the production line; and

FIG. 5 depicts one embodiment of a control circuit which may be employed in utilizing the brush sensing mechanism.

Referring to FIG. 1, I show in perspective one embodiment of a brush sensing mechanism comprising an open frame having a rectangular or other suitable opening 11 and also having a leg 12 projecting transversely from the bottom thereof, the leg being grooved at 13 across the 3,349,659 Patented Oct. 31, 1967 width of the frame as shown. The groove is in elfect a pivot-reacting slot into which one edge of plate 14 is loosely mounted. The plate has an aperture 15 adapted to allow a twisted wire brush to pass through it, the aperture 15 being smaller than the diameter of the brush so that some resistance to the travel of the brush is provided. The bristles being flexible are able to flex their way through the opening while at the same time impart a force to the loosely mounted plate.

The plate is loosely connected to the top of the frame by means of a stop pin 16 which passes through an opening 17 of the plate and is fastened to the frame at its upper marginal edge at 18. The pin has an enlarged head 19 which serves as a stop to control the amount of opening of the plate as it pivots about groove 13. v Projecting upwardly from the top of the plate is a tongue 20 which extends into the path of a switching element 21 which is biased outwardly from switch 22. The switching element 21 is under spring action and is biased against tongue 20 of the plate so as to maintain plate 14 biased towards head 19 of stop pin 16. The switch has a contact element 21a which cooperates with switching element 21. The switch may be any type of a conventional micro switch or similar switch. In this position, the circuit is open as will be discussed later in connection with FIG. 5.

FIG. 2 shows another embodiment comprising an open frame 25 having a transversely extending leg 26 with slots 27, 28 for bolting the frame to a supporting surface in the production line. As in FIG. 1, the frame has a rectangular or other suitable opening 29 cove-red by a plate 30 which is pivotally supported by hinges 31 and 32 extending from the frame, the plate having a pair of overhanging hinge supports 31a and 32a which cooperate with hinges 31 and 32, respectively. As in FIG. 1, plate 3% has an aperture 33 adapted to allow a brush to pass through, the aperture being smaller than. the diameter of the brush element. A stop pin 34 is provided for loosely holding the plate in place, the pin having an enlarged head 35 to limit the pivoting movement of the plate. Th pin is fastened to the frame at 36 as shown.

Projecting into the path of the pivotally mounted plate is a switching element 37 of switch 38 which is spring biased to contact plate 30 and maintain it towards enlarged head 35 of stop pin 34. As stated above, the switch may be any conventional type micro switch or comparable switching element.

As has been stated hereinbefore, the brush sensing mechanism is particularly useful in controlling the severing or chopping of brush elements. In FIG. 3, brush elements 40 are shown separated by bare wire segments 41. The sensing mechanism 10 in FIG. 1 is shown in cross section with plate 14 biased in the open position by switching element 21 of micro switch 22. Brush elements 40 are adapted to pass through opening 15 of plate 14 and throughframe opening 11 to the chopping station designated generally by the numeral 42 comprising knives 43, 44.

As brush element 40 passes through aperture 15 of plate 14, the plate (note FIG. 4) is forced up against frame 10 whereby switching element 21 is actuated, which switching element directly or indirectly actuates the chopper to sever the brush elements apart. Since the twisted wire product is continually moving, I find it advantageous to use a time delay device to actuate the chopper so that the brush element to be severed will be timed to reach the desired position after passing through the sensing mechanism. For example, while FIG. 4 shows the sensing mechanism in the actuated position, chopping station 42 may not be actuated until the brush element has completely cleared the sensing mechanism in FIG.

=3 3. As will be noted from FIG. 3, the brush reaching the knives is being severed even though switching element 21 of the brush sensing mechanism is now in the open position. It will be appreciated that any desired timing can be eflected depending upon the location of the chopping station and the rate of travel of the twisted wire product.

FIG. 5 is illustrative of a control circuit which may be employed in carrying out the objects of the invention, it being understood that other circuits may be employed to achieve the same results. Brush sensing switch 45 is shown connected across power supply 46, the actuator having in series with it a conventional time delay device 47 which is in turn coupled in series to a solenoid operated cutter 48 at the brush chopping station. The time delay device may comprise a motor time which is preset to actuate the solenoid switch 48, the timer being automatically resettable when the cutters are actuated.

Stating it broadly, the brush sensing mechanism comprises a movably mounted brush sensing means disposed in the path of travel of a twisted wire product characterized by a separated series of brush elements With bare wire therebetween, the movably mounted sensing element being only actuated when it contacts a brush element, and a switching element cooperably associated with said movable brush sensing element, the switching element being coupled to an actuating circuit controlling a chopper station for severing the brush elements from each other. Advantageously, the switching element may be coupled to a time delay device which actuates the chopper circuit depending upon the rate of movement of the twisted wire product to the chopper.

In its more preferred aspects, I provide a brush sensing mechanism for use with brush making machines in which bristles are deposited between a pair of wires and the wires twisted about each other to lock the bristles in place, More specifically, the device found advantageous for my purpose comprises an open frame, a plate pivotally mounted along one edge thereof to the frame, the plate being movably coupled to the frame via stop means along a marginal edge. The plate has an aperture therein to allow a twisted wire brush to pass through it, the size of the aperture being smaller than the diameter of the brush but suflicient to allow the brush to pass therethrough by virtue of the flexibility of the brush bristles. An electric switch is associated with the frame which has a switching element which projects into the pivotal path of the plate and which is actuated thereby when a brush element is forced through the plate aperture and causes the plate to move against the switching element.

The switch is advantageously coupled to a timer which is set to actuate a chopper station according to a predetermined rate of travel of the twisted wire product. Of course, a timer need not necessarily be employed to achieve the results of the invention. For example, the chopper may be positioned such as to sever a brush element the moment another brush element in the production line actuates the brush sensing mechanism.

On the other hand, a counting device may be employed in place of the timer, the counting device being set to count incremental lengths of brushes by using synchronized with the rate of travel of the twisted wire product. For example, the counter might be set to count ten increments corresponding to ten inches of a brush element of which six inches constitute the brush and four inches the bare wire. When the ten counts are reached, the chopper is caused to actuate and the counter automatically re-set for the next count.

As is apparent, a wide variety of combinations are possible with the brush sensing mechanism of the invention.

Although the present invention has been described in conjunction with preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that modifications and variations may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as those skilled in the art will readily understand. Such modifications and variations are considered to be within the purview and scope of the invention and the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a brush-making machine, wherein a brush-forming element comprising a pair of twisted wires having clusters of bristles locked therebetween at spaced intervals therealong is advancing with respect to a brush chopper adapted to sever said Wires at a point adjacent an end of a cluster to produce a brush segment having a wire stem extending therefrom, the combination comprising, a brush element having clusters of bristles at spaced intervals along the length of said element advancing along a path of travel, a brush chopper disposed at a station downstream of said path of travel, a brush-sensing mechanism disposed at a station upstream of said brush chopper having a sensing element which senses the transition of the brush element from an end of a cluster of bristles to a space between clusters, an actuating circuit coupling said brush-sensing mechanism to said brush chopper, and a time delay switch coupled to said brush-sensing element, said time delay switch being set relative to the rate of travel of said brush element whereby the brush chopper is caused to operate to sever the brush element at a point adjacent an end of a cluster of bristles.

2. The combination of claim 1, wherein the brushsensing element is a movably mounted means which extends into the path of travel of said brush element and is actuated when said means makes contact with a cluster of said bristles.

3. In a brush making machine in which bristles are deposited between a pair of wires and locked in place by imparting a twist to the wires to form a twisted wire product and the twisted wire product then severed at a chopping station, a brush sensing mechanism comprising a supporting frame, a plate pivotally mounted to said frame along one edge thereof and having an aperture therein to allow the passage therethrough of a twisted wire brush, the size of the aperture being smaller than the diameter of the twisted wire brush but suflicient to allow the brush bristles to flex their Way through the aperture and pivotally move the plate, stop means associated with said frame for limiting the pivotal travel of said plate, and a switching element associated with said frame which projects into the pivotal path of said plate and biases the plate in the open position, said switching element being coupled to an actuating circuit controlling the operation of the chopping station, such that when a twisted wire brush passes through the aperture of the pivotally mounted plate, said plate is caused to move against said switching element and actuate the chopping station.

4. In a brush making machine in which bristles are deposited between a pair of wires and locked in place by imparting a twist to the wires to form a twisted wire product and the twisted wire product then severed at a chopping station, a brush sensing mechanism comprising a. supporting frame, a plate pivotally mounted to said frame along one edge thereof and having an aperture therein to allow the passage therethrough of a twisted wire brush, the size of the aperture being smaller than the diameter of the twisted wire brush but sufficient to allow the brush bristles to flex their way through the aperture and pivotally move the plate, stop means associated with said frame for limiting the pivotal travel of said plate, a switching element associated with said frame which projects into the pivotal path of said plate and biases the plate in the open position, a time delay switch coupled to said switching element, said time delay element being coupled to an actuating circuit controlling the operation of the chopping station, such that when a twisted wire brush passes through the aperture of the pivotally mounted plate, said plate is caused to References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3/1937 Cundall 83-371 X Nedal 83371 Fischer 83371 King 83-371 X Marks et a1. 300-21 JAMES M. MEISTER, Primary Examiner. 

3. IN A BRUSH MAKING MACHINE IN WHICH BRISTLES ARE DEPOSITED BETWEEN A PAIR OF WIRES AND LOCKED IN PLACE BY IMPARTING A TWIST TO THE WIRES TO FORM A TWISTED WIRE PRODUCT AND THE TWISTED WIRE PRODUCT THEN SEVERE AT A CHOPPING STATION, A BRUSH SENSING MECHANISM COMPRISING A SUPPORTING FRAME, A PLATE PIVOTALLY MOUNTED TO SAID FRAME ALONG ONE EDGE THEREOF AND HAVING AN APERTURE THEREIN TO ALLOW THE PASSAGE THERETHROUGH OF A TWISTED WIRE BRUSH, THE SIZE OF THE APERTURE BEING SMALLER THAN THE DIAMETER OF THE TWISTED WIRE BRUSH BUT SUFFICIENT TO ALLOW THE BRUCH BRISTLES TO FLEX THEIR WAY THROUGH THE APERTURE AND PIVOTALLY MOVE THE PLATE, STOP MEANS ASSOCIATED WITH SAID FRAME FOR LIMITING THE PIVOTAL TRAVEL OF SAID PLATE, AND A SWITCHING ELEMENT ASSOCIATED 